Sunny Deol's Eyes (and a few of his best movies)

"Utaar ke faink do yeh wardi aur pehen lo Balwant Rai ka patta apne gale mein." - Ghayal.


"Mathura Das, isse pehle ki main tujhe Gaddar karaar deke goli maar dun...bhaag jaa yahan se" - Border.


I wish there was an option in blogger, which would make these fonts bolder, much bolder, as much as the boldness and machismo pumped into these lines by the sayer. If there ever was an instrument, which could measure the intensity and volatility of an actor's performance, it would have been destroyed by a single steely glance of Sunny Deol's ultra expressive eyes. Ahh...those eyes !! They might not be as beautiful as Aishwarya Rai's, might not be as perfectly arched and romantically deep as Shahrukh's or as crooked as Shakti Kapoor's. But if eyes were a window to one's soul, Sunny Deol's eyes surely depicted two emotions awesomely well - Hatred and Revenge !!! 


Continuing with the tradition..i would now list down my favourite Sunny Deol movies, the best 5. Not surprising though, that the new ones won't find a mention.

1. Arjun: Mamaiyya kero kero kero Mamma.... !! What memories this movie holds... For me, this movie defined youth rebellion for a long time, until "Rang de Basanti" happened. The anger of the unemployed youth, nagged at home, disrespected in society, was well portrayed by the young guns including Deol. The scene where they meet the rival gang, and the sound of whistling amidst silence, the rain scene where one of the guys is being chased by the goons, with hundreds of black umbrellas cramming the screen, remain memorable to this day. And Sunny Deol, as Arjun Malvankar, the strong, silent hero, with fire in his belly, was a treat to watch.

2. Dacait: I remember watching this movie when i was a kid and being shit angry and troubled and teary eyed looking at Sunny Deol's face, when he sees his mom Raakhi, who's gone mad and is dancing with a shaved off head..."Nacho re nacho..." !! Uff..the plight !! Too much... And just the right expressions put in again by Sunny boy !! How a simple, educated boy turns into a dreaded Dacoit, is a story well told and very well acted by Deol Senior. Another Rahul Rawail-Sunny Deol Hit Combo, after "Arjun".

3. Ghayal: Most Indians, when asked to mention THE defining Sunny Deol Movie, would immediately respond - "Ghayal".  This film over the times has become a cult classic, in the history of action cinema in Bollywood. Dialogues are still remembered and spoken. The story of yet another angry young man, wronged by the system, in search of his missing elder brother. This also marked the successful association of Deol with Rajkumar Santoshi.

4. Daamini: This is a movie, where in the traditional sense of the word, Sunny Deol isn't the "Hero" of the movie. But when we remember "Daamini" today, we would remember it for Deol, and maybe a few would recount Meenakshi Sheshadri's stellar performance too. This movie IMO should also hold the record for memorable dialogues : screen time ratio, and Deol's "Govind", the fire yeilding lawyer who returns from self hibernation, is a winner, hands down. Hands se yaad aaya - "Yeh Dhaai kilo ka haath..jab kisipe padta hai na...toh aadmi uthta nahin....(dramatic expression with palm flicked towards heaven)..UTTH jaata hai."

5. Border: J.P.Dutta's multi-starrer has been IMO the best war movie bollywood ever made. War, here meant fighting our neighbours, and the action involved here, was more emotional, rather than the technical CGI sequences hollywood specialises in. We do not need 50 animation smart assess to blow up a tank spectacularly on screen. A howling Sunil Shetty (Maahh....Shakti...Maahhhhhhhhhh) punctured with 16 bullets is enough for this. And when it comes to emotional action..who better than Sunny Paaji ?? Amongst a bevy of heroes, Sunny Deol stood out with extra ordinary screen presence. Remember the scene where he gives the Pak general a mouthful or where he counsels young tongue protruding Akshaye Khanna, Deol is superb. Garland of grenades and heavy launcher on thy shoulder...there marches my bollywood soldier !!

What did i miss? "Gadar - Ek Prem Katha" comes immediately to the mind. This is one movie, where after Border, Sunny Deol took the Pak thing into his own hands, and didn't need the army to emerge India victorious. This movie also raced with "Lagaan", another bollywood legend, and bitchslapped it to turn victorious at the Box office race back then. "Ghatak" was a worthy successor to "Ghayal" but somehow also resembled the 10 movies Deol did those days, which you couldnt differentiate from one another while being played on cable television. "Arjun Pandit" had an interesting premise, that of a "Negative Hero" (another bollywood cliche). He has also been an integral part of Rajiv rai's entertainers "Tridev" and "Vishwatma". Off late i havent seen any of his new stuff and i doubt any of them would make it into a list of "10 best Sunny Deol movies". I'd read about "Ghayal Returns" a few days back. Hope it returns well and soon. Can't wait to see the Real action man again. "Kab aayegi yeh Taareekh? Tareekh pe taareekh .........................!!!"